Behind The Curtain
by Krazee Kaz
Summary: Chapter 4 ~ Mick receives some good news, Adam finds himself caught up in Alex's complicated love life and McAllister pushes things a little too far...
1. Prologue

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
**BEHIND THE CURTAIN******

**PROLOGUE**

He wondered if he would ever find answers. He wondered if he would ever stop feeling so empty. He found himself repeatedly asking "why", although he never did get a reply from whoever it was he was supposed to be asking. Was there a God? Did he ever answer his emails or did he just send them straight to the junk mail folder? 

"I think we should all pull together at this… tragic time," Geoff Pearce was informing Blue Watch. 

They were assembled in the mess, what was left of them anyway. With the spate of transfers that had gone on recently, Blue Watch were more like Ghost Watch at the moment, and they only had one appliance on the run. 

Adam shook his head. "It's so unfair," he muttered to himself. 

"It's…" young recruit Craig Ross had been hit pretty hard having watched horrific events unfold in front of him only hours ago. "Do you think he's all right?" 

Adam shrugged. 

"I wouldn't be," Charlie put in. "I mean, how do you get over something like that?" 

At the moment, no one could answer his question. Mick had overheard them. He appreciated their concerns but it wouldn't bring back his wife and child.   



	2. Chapter 1: Valley of Death

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
**BEHIND THE CURTAIN******

**CHAPTER ONE**   
**Valley of Death**

  


"Oh look, it's Blackwall, what time do you call this?" 

Shadbrook had been attending a kitchen fire. They had dealt with most of the incident by the time Blackwall's Blue Watch arrived on the scene to be greeted by Alex Harris, Shadbrook's leading hand. She was in charge of the pump crew that morning. 

"Anything for us?" Mick asked, jumping down from the cab. 

"Don't think so," Alex replied, looking back at the blackened kitchen as the Shadbrook crews continued the dampening down. "A toaster blew up." 

"Char-grills all round then!" Charlie grinned. 

"It is if that cook of yours is still around!" Alex retorted, having heard the tales of Blackwall's cook, Lisa, who almost burnt the fire station down once. 

Charlie looked as if he was about to melt at the mention of Lisa's name. She wasn't around anymore, not that it mattered to him. 

"She got a better job," Craig put in helpfully. 

"Really? You mean there's something better than feeding you lot?!" 

The sarcasm was lost on Craig. 

"We'll get going then," Mick cut the banter short. "If you're sure?" 

"I think I can handle a small metal object Mick! Or is it Sir these days?" 

"With any luck," Mick muttered without enthusiasm. 

He was going up in front of the promotion board very soon, hoping to pass the interview and claim his full Station Officer rank. He had been busy swotting for it, but he couldn't stop the doubts niggling away at him. Was he really good enough to run Blue Watch? 

The crew piled back into the appliance and headed back to the station.   
  


DO Dexter Ross had decided that it was his mission in life was to make sure his boy was something to be proud of. In fact, the only thing the lad had ever done to please him was join the Brigade. Craig wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but the Brigade would teach him a thing or two. Sometimes he just needed a push in the right direction. 

Ross was paying one of his regular visits to Blackwall fire station. He didn't that see that he had any conflicting interests there, even if that was where Craig was stationed. He wasn't going to show the lad any favouritism.   
Blackwall's solitary crew were out dealing with a kitchen fire, according to the log. Ross flicked through the paper work in the watch room and tut-tutted at a few spelling errors he came across. He shook his head as he read the name of the firefighter who had made them. Craig Ross. Surely the lad wasn't getting sloppy? 

"She's a bit of all right, though." 

The silence was broken as the appliance pulled into the empty bay. It was Adam who had been yelling about some woman he obviously fancied. 

"Out of your league though!" Charlie remarked. 

"Wanna bet?!" Adam challenged. 

Charlie grinned. "If you can pull Alex Harris, I will personally sign over everything I own to you!" 

"DO's here," Mick commented on spotting DO Ross's car parked in the station yard. 

Craig looked a little worried at his father's presence. He felt the DO followed him around. He always seemed to be hanging round training centre while Craig had been there, and now, coincidentally, he had come to Blackwall. 

"Sir," Mick saluted the senior officer who returned the compliment. "What can we do for you?" 

Ross seemed more concerned with watching Craig and Blue Watch's other new recruit, Zafar Ahmed, carry out their routine equipment checks. Ross suddenly flicked his attention to Mick. 

"Actually, it's more of what I can do for you. I've found you some more personnel." 

"Oh," Mick looked a little crestfallen, he had been hoping the DO had come with news about the Station Officers post. 

"Alex Harris and Jamie McAllister," Ross diverted his attention to Craig again as he walked round the side of the appliance in front of the Watch room where the two officers stood. 

"Alex?" Mick acknowledged. "She never said anything." 

"Hmmmn," Ross didn't look too sure about Alex's impending presence on the Watch. "She's a bit of a fly by that one, you want to keep an eye on her," Ross advised, not taking his eyes off Craig. 

Mick had sensed this. "He's doing fine," he assured the officer. 

"Well, yes, good," Ross skated over the subject. "How about young Zafar? Not long out of training you know." 

"He's fitting in well." 

Zafar hadn't been with Blue Watch for long. He had only finished his training a few months ago and was still on probation. He had never really been clear on his reasons for transferring from his first station, Archway, except to say that they were personal. Mick assumed it had something to do with Zafar's Asian family. Not that it had to be of course, he didn't know why he had just assumed that. 

"Anyway I just wanted to let you know about these transfers," Ross was telling Mick. 

"Right sir," Mick felt that this wasn't the real reason the DO had come all the way down to Blackwall, after all he could just have phoned! 

The DO left. Mick found Adam and Charlie arguing over which of them was more likely to pull Alex Harris. He wondered if he should give them the good news or make them sweat it out. 

It would be good to have both pumps back on the run, that way they might be able to attend something more interesting than cats on roofs and rubbish fires. There was too much time to think at the moment. Too much time to reflect on things. He didn't want to discuss his problems with the Watch, not that they wouldn't understand, it was just… awkward. 

He felt he would have been able to talk things over with Sally. But she was no longer around. She had opted for the "perfect" life with Frank Mooney. At least Frank had something to offer. He would look after Sally. 

Now Mick had no one. It had been a nightmare when he had heard his own address read out when there was a fire at his house once. But then he had been able to rescue both his wife Shauna and their young son Liam. This time it had been even worse than a nightmare, hell on Earth perhaps. 

He went home to an empty house every night. He still expected to come home to find Shauna playing Spiderman or some other silly game with Liam that involved them racing all over the house. God, how he missed them both.   
  


"Aren't you in the wrong station?" Charlie had clocked Alex as soon as she walked into the station for Blue Watch's night duty. 

"No, I'm right," she smiled. "Did I forget to mention that I was gonna be your new leading hand?!" 

"Must have slipped your mind," Charlie replied. 

"This isn't Shadbrook is it?!" Adam joined them. 

"We've already done that one," Charlie wasn't happy that Adam was trying to recycle his joke. 

Adam glared at Charlie for a moment. "Need a hand?" he offered Alex, who was dragging all of her kit with her. 

"Well, you can take that," she shoved the long kit bag at him, leaving herself with a blue sleeping bag and a pink sports holdall. 

Adam dragged the bag up the stairs, wishing he hadn't offered. 

"I would have offered," Charlie started. "But I know how you women like to be independent!" 

"Why have a slave and do all the work yourself?!" Alex grinned. "Which one of you two jokers is going to give me the grand tour then?" 

"He's the joker," Adam muttered. "I'm the mug!" 

Both Charlie and Alex ignored his complaining. 

"The Guv wants to see you," Charlie told Alex. 

They made their way towards the dorms where they were interrupted by Craig hurrying passed them. 

"Where's the fire?!" Charlie called after him. 

"Sorry," Craig yelled as he legged it to the TV room. "You're gonna miss it!" he urged. 

Charlie frowned. "Miss what?" 

"His big moment," Adam replied. 

"Oh yeah, I've gotta see this!" Charlie grinned. 

They left Alex and rushed into the TV room after Craig. 

"Hey," she tried calling after them. "Yeah, thanks a lot, I'll remember this!" 

"Everything ok?" Mick asked as he reached the top of the stairs where Adam had dumped Alex's kit bag. 

"Yeah, what's the excitement?" 

"Local media wanted some shots of fire engines!" Mick explained. "Do you want a hand?" 

"Well I did have one, but I guess… Thanks Guv." 

Mick took Adam's place as the luggage handler. They went through the locker room to the curtained off area, where Sally's locker used to be. He had considered telling Sally about Shauna and Liam, but then decided that she had a new life now and didn't need, or probably want, him butting in and stirring all that up again. 

"You ok Guv?" Alex noticed Mick was staring into space. 

"Yeah, fine," he snapped back to reality. "I'm sure you'll fit in well here, Alex. I'll get one of the Watch to show you round." 

"I don't think you'd be short of volunteers!" 

Mick managed a smile. "Don't worry about Adam and Charlie." 

"I don't." 

Mick nodded. "I'll leave you to it then."   
  


"Where's the next Richard Burton then?!" Charlie asked as he, Craig and Adam were glued to the evening news report. 

"Who?" Adam asked. 

"Actor bloke." 

"Oh, I didn't have you down as a lover of the arts!" Adam grinned. 

Charlie looked uncomfortable. "I'm not!" then he grinned. "Impresses the birds though!" 

Adam frowned. "You reckon?" 

"Oh yeah." 

"Guys, shut up, we're on!" Craig moaned as the news report switched to footage of Blackwall that had been recorded the previous day. 

Unfortunately it was just a clip of the appliance driving out of the station. Craig looked very deflated. 

"Oh… is that it?!" he asked downhearted as the program went back to the news room and the reporter carried on talking about the issues currently affecting the Brigade and the general public. 

Adam shrugged. "Oh well." 

"Good shot of the station," Charlie commented. 

Craig wasn't happy though as he'd missed his chance of fame.   
  


At role call, Mick formally introduced Alex to the Watch. Geoff Pearce had also returned from his recent family holiday with his wife Fiona and baby daughter Eve. Mick then decided to announce that the third new bod would be arriving later on that evening, apparently because he had some personal issue to settle first. Another guy who refused to go into details about his private life. 

"Anyone know this bloke?" Charlie asked as the Watch started to carry out their routing start of shift checks. 

"McAllister? Unfortunately." Alex muttered. 

"What do you make of him?" Adam questioned. 

"Not much!" was the short reply. 

Adam glanced at Charlie, who shrugged. They both wondered if they should press for more information, but Alex's tone had told them that she didn't want to talk about whatever sort of past she may have had with Jamie McAllister. 

"What sort of knot would you call this?" Craig asked Zafar as he found a complicated looking knot in one of the rope lines. 

Zafar shrugged, without bothering to inspect it. "I dunno." 

"You ok?" 

"Yeah, just," Zafar sighed. "Family stuff, you know." 

"Yeah, tell me about it! Every time I go home after shift, my dad has to start on about something I've done wrong. Just because I haven't done something his way, then it's wrong." 

"I get that. Must be tough having a divisional officer for a father!" 

"It's like being in the Big Brother house, he's watching me all the time!" 

Zafar grinned. "It's just a figure of eight." 

"What is?" 

"Your knot." 

"Oh yeah," Craig paused. "I knew that."   
  


Blue Watch settled down with the prospect of a quiet Wednesday evening. Jamie McAllister still hadn't arrived so the pump ladder was once again off the run with Charlie, Pearce and Zafar having to stand down. Mick was beginning to get annoyed now. He hadn't received any sort of proper reason for Jamie's lateness. 

The sound of the bells summoned the pump crew to a flat fire on an estate where uniforms, of any description, weren't always welcome. In fact, they were never welcome. 

"Are the police on route?" Mick questioned as the four of them, he, Adam, Alex and Craig piled into the waiting appliance. 

"Um… doesn't say, Guv," Adam passed the print out to Mick and started the appliance engine. 

Mick got on the phone to Control. He wasn't a fan of the Greendale Estate. He didn't feel safe leading his crew into "the Valley of Death". Gangs of kids would hang around, waiting to cause trouble. Throwing bricks, glass bottles and whatever they could find, aiming at the firefighters as they tried to tackle the blaze - often started to lure them to the Estate. 

This time was no exception. The police were no where around as Mick advised Adam to approach with caution. All four of them looked warily around out of their various windows, in search of both missiles and signs of fire as the appliance crawled silently, blue lights flashing, into the middle of the Estate. 

High rise blocks of flats loomed above them, casting dark shadows over them. There was no sign of anyone, which was far from comforting. The sound of police sirens wailed in the distance. It was a slight relief for the four firefighters, but none of them noticed the broken brick plough through the front windscreen - until it was too late.   



	3. Chapter 2: Aversion

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
**BEHIND THE CURTAIN******

**CHAPTER TWO - Aversion**

Zafar was sitting in the Watch room, scanning the morning newspaper that had been left on the desk by Green Watch, who had been on the day shift. It was the usual rubbish that was left lying around, often with a porn mag tucked secretly inside it. 

"Oi, Abdul, you deaf of summat?" 

Zafar looked round to see who the obnoxious newcomer was. A bloke in a Brigade uniform was leaning casually against the Watch room door. He had no rank markings and a sports bag was slung over his right shoulder. 

"I musta been standin' ere about twenny minutes!" the bloke moaned. "What you readin' anyway?" he strode into the Watch room and grabbed the newspaper, the porn magazine fell to the floor. "Oh yeah?" 

"It's not mine." 

"Nah, course not. Your lot ain't allowed to look at this stuff are ya?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zafar demanded, knowing full well that he shouldn't rise to the bait. 

"Is your Guv'nor about Abdul?" the bloke casually changed the subject as if he had just made a comment about the weather. 

"He's on a shout, and my name ain't Abdul." 

"That means I'll have to talk to your Sub then, doesn't it? I take it he's in?" 

"He's in his office. Up the stairs, turn right." 

"What's your Guv'nor like then?" the bloke pressed. "Callaghan. I heard he lost his wife and kid a while back, kinda careless of him." 

Zafar decided that he didn't want a conversation of this sort, or any sort, with the bloke he assumed must be Jamie McAllister. 

McAllister made another remark about liking curry and left to find Pearce. 

"Cheers Abdul." 

Zafar ignored him.   
  


Adam swore as something scraped against the side of the appliance. He slammed on the brakes, the fire engine jolted. 

"I don't like the look of this…" Mick glanced warily out of the side window. 

The police were nowhere around, as Craig nervously pointed out. 

"Figures," Alex muttered to herself. "Can't trust a copper to be around when he's supposed to be!" 

"Do you think we should take a look down there?" Mick considered, spotting a dark alleyway off to their left. 

A grey mist was collecting around the alley. 

"Could be smoke," Adam observed. 

The appliance cruised slowly into the alleyway, blue lights flashing silently. There was an orange glow at the end of the passage, which was denoted by the tall graffiti covered brick wall. 

"Is that it?" Craig moaned, not happy with the level of excitement posed by the fire in a rubbish bin burning brightly before them. 

Mick still wasn't entirely convinced his crew were safe round here. All the stations in the Area who had attended calls on this Estate had suffered some form of trouble from the gangs of local kids. Mick started to wonder if he should have waited for the police. 

The crew hardly had time to get out of the appliance when all hell broke loose. Bottles, bricks and miscellaneous missiles flew towards them from every angle, following by whooping laughs and cheers whenever a target hit. Mick yelled at his crew to get back into the appliance. 

"Reverse!" he ordered Adam. 

Adam didn't need telling twice. He threw the appliance into reverse and they shot backwards. At the other end of the alley, another vehicle was coming into view, threatening to block their only escape.   
  


"This shift started at six o'clock," Geoff Pearce was busily informing Blue Watch's new recruit Jamie McAllister. 

"Yes, Sub, I did tell Station Officer Callaghan I would be late. I had a personal problem to deal with," McAllister explained. 

"Well don't let it happen again." 

"It won't, Sub." 

Pearce let McAllister go. He decided that perhaps he was losing his touch where discipline was concerned. Then he had to remind himself that it was no longer his job to discipline Blue Watch. 

A thought had occurred to him recently. He would be drawing his pension when his (now) two-year-old daughter Eve graduated from university, which of course she would be going to do in a few years time. That's if he was still around at all. 

He thought about George Green. A man who had given his life to the Fire Brigade, not literally fortunately. But he had spent all his working life as a firefighter. At least Geoff had got some sort of authority under his belt. George, it had seemed, had been quite content to stay at the bottom of the ladder. He had been forced to retire after failing the eye test in his routine medical. 

Geoff wondered if he would be the next member of Blue Watch to be put on the scrap heap. George, Sicknote, Billy, Kevin, Nick, Recall, Bayleaf, John… All of them had moved on, in one way or another. He didn't know who Blue Watch were these days. They were all young lads, with their lives ahead of them, while his life was mainly behind him now. 

His thoughts were interrupted as the pump ladder, now back on the run with a full crew, was called out to assist police at Blackwall Marina.   
  


Blackwall's appliance shot out of the alleyway as the police moved in. 

"Everyone ok?" Mick asked, concerned for his crew. 

Craig stared blankly at Mick for a second, then pulled himself together and nodded. Alex was focusing on the several police cars that had now arrived to restore order on the Estate following Mick's radio call that the Blackwall crew had come under attack. 

"I should have waited," Mick cursed himself for leading his crew into danger. 

"It's not your fault, Guv," Alex told him. "If we waited for the police to arrive every time there was a fire then half of London would be in ashes!" 

Gangs of kids, ranging from about eight to eighteen years old, scattered as the police stormed their hiding places in the vicinity of the dark passageway.   
  


Meanwhile, Blackwall's pump ladder crew, under Pearce's command, were scouring the murky waters of Blackwall Marina, in search of a body of one of the berth holders who hadn't been seen for a while. 

"I saw him board his craft an hour ago," the night watch man had explained to Pearce. "I went down about ten minutes ago and he wasn't there. The cabin was unlocked and all the lights were on. It's pretty slippery on the deck too, I thought he might have… That's her," the guard pointed out one of the canal narrow boats that were tethered to various mooring hoops along the banks. "Anna-Maria." 

The bloke they were looking for was David Thornton, a 45-year old widower who spent all of his spare time on board the Anna-Maria. He was well known to the Marina and security staff, and often "popped in for a cuppa" with them. 

Zafar wasn't happy with the decision to pair him with Jamie McAllister. He had only known the bloke for ten minutes and all ready despised him. They patrolled the banks of the canal basin, carefully scanning the water with flashlights for any sign of the missing man. Zafar was expecting more comments from McAllister, but they didn't come. In fact, McAllister remained silent as if he was one hundred per cent focused on the job in hand. 

Zafar wondered if he should say something. "Are you…" 

"Shush!" McAllister hissed. "I'm trying to listen." 

"What for?" 

"Splashing…" 

"Oh…" 

"There!" McAllister pointed towards the water. 

An orange jacket could be seen bobbing around, illuminated against the beam of light from the torch that Zafar held in his hand. 

"Sub!" Zafar looked around for Pearce. 

There was a loud splash in the water. When Zafar looked round, McAllister had vanished, and so had the orange jacket.   
  


The police remained on the Estate while Mick instructed Craig on how to deal with the rubbish fire. Adam sent a report to Control to let them know the situation was now under control. He noticed Alex talking to one of the policemen. 

"I didn't know you were back in London," the policeman was saying to her. "You could have let me know." 

"Why?" Alex was asking. "You weren't interested before! You've had your chance Tom." 

Adam tried not to listen into the conversation, but it was an opportunity not to be missed to find out more about Alex. He realised that he knew very little about her. 

"How's Katie?" the police officer, Tom, ventured. 

"Like you care." 

"Course I care! She's my kid too!" 

Adam realised he'd been sprung as he found Alex glaring at him for listening in. 

"You've had eight years," Alex reminded Tom as she continued to glare at Adam who sat in the appliance cab. 

"I didn't know where you were," Tom protested, as Alex climbed into the back of the cab, trying to signal an end to the conversation. 

"You could have found us, if you really wanted to." 

"Everything ok?" Adam enquired. 

"Nothing I can't handle." 

"I know I said I wanted to put out a fire," Craig was moaning as he joined them in the appliance. "But I was thinking of something a bit more… you know." 

"Challenging?" Mick supplied as he got into the front seat. 

Craig shrugged. "Well… yeah!" 

Mick smiled to himself. The kid had enthusiasm. He might not have joined the Brigade under his own steam, but at least the showed an interest. 

"Ready?" Mick asked, sensing that maybe he had interrupted something between Alex and Adam. 

"Can you give me a call sometime?" Tom was still pestering Alex. 

"Don't hold your breath," she warned as Adam started the engine.   
  


At the Marina, Pearce was instructing Charlie to scan the powerful search light over the dark water. There was no sign of Jamie McAllister, until… 

"There!" Charlie yelled. 

He had picked out a shape heading towards them as they stood at the waters edge. It was McAllister, pulling with him the body of David Thornton. 

Pearce and Zafar helped them out of the freezing water. 

"Paramedics!" Pearce was yelling as he laid out David's body, the orange jacket that he had been wearing had slipped off in the water. 

Two paramedics rushed over to start resuscitation as Pearce moved onto McAllister, who waved away the offer of a blanket. 

"What did you think you were doing?!" Pearce demanded. "Jumping in like that without a line! We're a team here, we work together." 

"Sorry, Sub," McAllister apologised. "There wasn't time. Is he gonna make it?" 

The four firefighters watched the paramedics work until David choked back to life. 

"You were lucky," Pearce warned McAllister as the crew started to pack their equipment away. "This time." 


	4. Chapter 3: Rocky Road

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
**BEHIND THE CURTAIN******

**CHAPTER THREE – Rocky Road**

Mick sat in the waiting room, along with a couple of other nervous station officer wannabes, dressed in full Brigade uniform. He found himself staring into space, thinking about why he was here. And Shauna. And Liam… If they hadn't been taken from him, would he be here now? Or would he still be mulling along, kidding himself that he could run Blue Watch? 

Since the tragedy, he had thrown himself into his work. He had read what felt like an entire library on management skills. He'd even attempted to implement them on a couple of occasions. Why was he here? Because he wanted to run an efficient Watch, or because he refused to dwell on the past? 

He stood up as he realised the answer. He didn't have leadership skills, who was he fooling? Only himself it seemed. The waiting room door opened. 

"Leaving all ready Mick?" 

"Stacey! I didn't know you were…" he was surprised to see her, also in full Brigade uniform. 

The two silver bars marking a Sub's rank glinted on her shoulders. She removed her cap to reveal her bob of white blonde hair. He rosy cheeks were make-up less but they glowed when she smiled at him. It struck him that he'd never realised just how beautiful she was. Then he remembered Shauna, his dead wife, not yet cold in the ground. 

"I'm sorry, I have to… er…" he made a move to pass her and leave the room. 

"Hold on," she called after him as he tried to make his escape down the corridor of South East Area HQ. "Have you been in yet?" 

He paused and looked back. "No." 

"Then where are you going?" she followed him down the corridor to where he had stopped. 

He fiddled nervously with his cap. "I shouldn't be here." 

"I heard about your wife and kid," she started softly. "Sorry." 

"Isn't everyone? Doesn't bring them back though, does it?" 

She put her comforting hand on his arm. "I do know how you feel." 

"Yeah, I know you do," he apologised. 

"But you can't just walk out of your interview!" she continued. "You deserve this promotion!" 

"I can't run Blue Watch." 

"Well you can't if you take that attitude!" 

"I just…" he sighed. "I don't think they respect me." 

"Anyone who can move on like you have deserves respect." 

"I haven't moved on," he confided. "That's just it. I thought maybe if I put all my energy into work I wouldn't have to think about it… them." 

"Do you want to talk about it?" she offered. 

"No…" he sank down into one of the chairs that lined the corridor of admin offices. "Thanks Stacey." 

He had known Stacey for a while, before he met Shauna. They lost contact after his marriage. It had been a similar situation to the one he had found himself in recently with Sally. He didn't do anything at the time so she moved on. It was the story of his life, he felt he couldn't do anything without consulting an expert in the field first. 

"When are you in?" she asked of his interview. 

"Ten to." 

"So I've got ten minutes to convince you that you are the best candidate to run Blue Watch! You've been doing it for the last six months!" she pointed out. "And I don't hear anyone complaining." 

"I haven't had the best track record. I had two firefighters on my Watch having a relationship right under my nose. I knew and did nothing, that's not the quality of a good station officer is it?" 

"Shows you care. What we're supposed to do and what actually happens are two different things, you know that," Stacey was now in the chair next to his, her hand back on his arm as he continued to twiddle his cap in his fingers. "At least you noticed!" 

"Only because Frank told me. Then there's Recall, he didn't need to die. I could have done something." 

"Sounds to me like they trust you enough to let you know what's going on in their lives. People can relate to you, Mick," she smiled. "That's why I like you! Now," she stood up. "You know what you've got to do," she pointed back down the corridor towards the room where the interviewing panel of officers were waiting for him. "So go in there and tell them you are the best Station Officer since… uh I dunno, James Braidwood!"   
  


Mick promised he would wait for Stacey after his interview. She was the next candidate after him. There was another Station Officers post coming up at Shadbrook, as well as the vacancy at Blackwall. DO Ross had unofficially informed Mick that the Blackwall job was as good as his. Mick thought how much the DO had been impressed with him, both during the interview and how he had overcome the difficulties he had been faced with in the last six months. 

Mick knew that Recall's death had not been his fault. True, he could have said something, but realistically, what good would it have done? If it hadn't have been that fire Recall rushed into, it would just have been another, because that was the type of guy he had been. He risked his life to save others, only this time it had cost him. 

"How was it?" Mick asked as Stacey emerged from the interview room. 

She shrugged. "Usual story, they'll let me know." 

"I got that." 

"Hmmn, I reckon I'll be passed over, again." 

"Why?" 

"Cos I'm a woman." 

"Don't be draft, that view went out with the Shelvokes!" 

"And how many female station officers do you know?" she challenged. 

"You could start a trend," he suggested helpfully. 

She smiled. "I gave it my best shot." 

There was a pause between them as they left Lewisham station together. 

"So," Mick started. "How's your love life these days?" 

"Don't have one. Well I did, but he wanted babies." 

"And you don't?" 

"I don't do babies, not now, not ever." 

"You've got plenty of time, I suppose." 

"I'm thirty two, Mick!" she reminded him. "I must have been busy snogging behind the bike sheds when they were handing out maternal instinct!" 

He smiled, but it quickly faded again as he thought about his own son. She knew what he was thinking. 

"Sorry." 

"I miss them," he told her. 

"How about that chat?" she suggested. 

He took her up on the offer and they found a small coffee shop by the banks of the River Thames. He told her about Shauna, about her illness and how she had died, and how much he loved her, and Liam… and their unborn child. 

How Shauna had insisted that she'd slept with Frank Mooney, Mick had put that down to her illness. Deep down he had realised that he was not the biological father of Shauna's baby. They had not had sex for at least eighteen months. The baby had been Frank's, it wasn't the depression that had driven Shauna to sleep with Frank, it was the fact that Mick had been paying her so little attention. 

Her death had caused him to put things into perspective. He felt bad about the feelings he'd had for Sally. The feelings he'd tried to hide from everyone, including himself. It had been the same way he had felt about Shauna eight years ago. Perhaps he had been confusing the two women, Shauna had been so much like Sally back then. Occasionally, the old Shauna had slipped back into his life, but in recent months he had been forced to face up to things. Illness or not, the spark had no longer been present in their marriage. 

He hadn't forgiven her for her affair because he had just ignored it and tried to pretend it hadn't happened. Now she was dead, it was too late for them to have that row they'd needed to clear the air between them. 

Shauna had been driving Liam home from school. He would probably have been telling her about his day, about the book his teacher was reading to the class, or about the stories the Head had told the kids in assembly. Liam liked his stories, especially when Shauna read to him at night, because she did "all the voices". He would have enjoyed being a big brother too. 

Mick had never understood the circumstances of the crash. He refused to believe that Shauna had deliberately driven the car under the tanker. Perhaps she had been distracted by something, Liam, the baby, a dog in the road… There was no way of knowing now. The police investigators had found tyre marks on the road, indicating that the car's brakes had been applied at some point. It was just an accident, he knew it. 

He hadn't realised the full extent of the RTA when Blue Watch first arrived on the scene. It was just another road accident, like the hundreds of others he had attended in his career. 

"Get a jet on the car before it goes up," he yelled at his crew. "Sally, keep these people back." 

"But Guv…" her objections went unnoticed. 

Frank, Charlie, and Adam carefully approached the car. The front end was crumpled underneath the arch of the milk tanker. 

"Guv," George had uncovered some urgent information as the identity of the car started to register with Mick. "The tanker isn't carrying milk," George was saying. "It's a sodium based cleaning fluid…" 

The words didn't register as Frank looked up from the drivers side of the car, he caught Mick's gaze and they both knew. It was Craig who alerted everyone to the leak. Frank dragged Shauna out as fumes started to build up as the chemical mixed with petrol oozing from the car's crushed tank. The firefighters backed away, Mick found himself running forward, Frank grabbed him. 

"She's dead," he whispered. 

Mick stared at him. "Liam…" 

Frank looked back at the car. He bolted forward to rescue the kid. The tanker exploded, knocking him to the ground. Sally was first in to pull him clear. 

Mick was unable to take in the events that had just unfolded before him. He just stood and stared as Pearce jumped into action and started directing a shocked Blue Watch to deal with the blaze. 

He felt he had died in that moment. For the next few days he didn't live, he just existed. Then Sally announced that she and Frank were going to have a baby. Frank wanted them to start a new life and whisked her away for the next chapter of their fairy tale romance. 

"I know how hard it is," Sally had told Mick. "But you have to get on with life." 

"My life has just died, Sally." 

"I know you feel like that now," she said soothingly. "Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. I thought my life had ended a couple of years ago when Joe… He died," she confided. "But I also know that things do get better, in time." 

He thanked her for her understanding. He took time off work, leaving Geoff Pearce to run Blue Watch in his absence. Geoff held the ship together well, but Mick realised Blue Watch needed someone to lead them. Especially as both Sally and Frank decided to leave, then George failed his medical. The Watch had had more shake ups than a pair of maracas. 

Mick realised he knew the man that Blue Watch desperately needed. That man was Mick Callaghan. 


	5. Chapter 4: Responsible for your Actions

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
**BEHIND THE CURTAIN******

**CHAPTER FOUR – Responsible for your Actions**

  


Geoff Pearce had taken it upon himself to tutor young recruits Craig and Zafar. He reckoned he was trying to give them the benefit of his experience, although neither Craig nor Zafar were too happy with the arrangement. At the moment, Pearce was quizzing the pair of them on the workings of various pieces of cutting equipment, much to Jamie McAllister's amusement. 

McAllister leaned casually against the door of the pump ladder, sniggering quietly behind Pearce's back and making other stupid gestures, in an attempt to put the trainees off. 

"Geoff," Adam was yelling from the stairs. "Your missus is on the phone!" 

Pearce glared at Adam, obviously annoyed that his wife Fiona was still calling him at work, even though he had expressly asked her not to, many times. 

"I can take over that, Sub," McAllister suddenly offered. 

Pearce turned to him. "Thank you Firefighter McAllister. I was just…" 

"Yeah I heard," McAllister interrupted. "Hadn't you better go and sort your wife out? She must want you pretty bad if she's calling you at work!" 

"Um, yes, I suppose so…" Pearce left them to it and headed towards his office to take the call in private. 

Craig and Zafar glanced at each other, unsure of McAllister's intentions. McAllister, however, was grinning, in the way he usually did when he was plotting something. 

"Right then class," he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Let's have some fun, shall we?" 

"Um, actually…" Craig started. 

McAllister ignored him. "You do want to pass your exams don't you?" 

"Well, yeah," Zafar put in. "But I don't think we could learn much from you!" he muttered under his breath. 

If McAllister had heard him, he had chosen to ignore the remark. "I could tell you what's gonna come up in the exam, which is a darn sight more than old Poison will!" 

"And how would you know?" Zafar challenged. 

"I'm not at liberty to reveal my sources. If you wanna pass the easy way, then I'm your man." 

Zafar didn't believe that McAllister was being charitable out of the goodness of his heart. There had to be some sort of catch. 

"No thanks," he decided not to risk it. "I think I can pass without cheating!" 

"Who said anything about cheating! I'm talking about a little extra tuition that's all. Or are you gonna be the Sub's pet instead?!" 

Craig shrugged. "I suppose that would be better than being the DO's pet!" 

McAllister was grinning. "Good. You up for that Abdul?" 

"No," Zafar repeated, holding his ground. "And stop calling me that." 

"What are you up to now McAllister?" Alex had interrupted them. 

"We're having a little tuition here, aren't we lads?" McAllister glared at Craig and Zafar. 

"Um yeah," Craig found himself agreeing, although he wasn't sure why. 

Actually he was. He didn't have the bottle to stand up to McAllister the way Zafar had. He found himself agreeing with the stronger link, in this case it happened to be McAllister. 

"Really?" Alex seemed far from convinced. "Remind me, when did you join the Samaritans?!" 

"Nobody was asking for your input, Harris." 

"Make sure you put all that stuff away when you've finished with it," Alex told him. 

"Yeah sure, Abdul can do that for his detention for being cheeky to the teacher!" McAllister was wearing a grin that suggested he was joking. 

"Piss off," Zafar had seen through him and stormed off. 

McAllister shrugged. "Guess it's lines then!" 

Alex wasn't impressed either. "I think that's lesson over, McAllister. Pack this kit away and stop being such a jerk!" 

McAllister stuck two fingers up at Alex's retreating back. He swung his arm on to Craig's shoulder. 

"Stick with me kid, I'll tell you everything you need to know." 

Craig was unsure, but found himself agreeing, yet again.   
  


Mick had been waiting anxiously since his station officers interview, even though Ross had already told him the job was his, he wanted to see it written down. He held the official letter in his tense fingers, knowing it was the confirmation but still worried that it could be a rejection. He was interrupted by a knock on his office door. 

"Come in," he left the letter on his desk, unopened. 

Zafar pushed the door open and stepped shyly into the office. "Um, could I have a word Guv?" 

"Sure," Mick invited the young lad inside. "What's up?" 

"Well… uh… I just… I'm worried about this exam…" 

"You'll be ok," Mick reassured him, failing to notice that this was not the real reason for Zafar's intrusion. "You know everything there is to know! Sometimes I think you know more than the rest of the Watch put together!" 

Zafar managed a small shy smile. "Thanks Guv… I just… well, exams you know," he shrugged it off. "Nerves an' all." 

"Just relax," Mick advised. 

"Um… yeah…" Zafar turned to leave. 

"Was that all?" Mick questioned, finally sensing that there could be something else bothering the lad. 

"Um…" Zafar seemed to be considering something. "Yes, Guv… Thanks," he left the office quickly. 

Mick frowned to himself. There was definitely something bothering Zafar. Mick knew that he couldn't do anything about it, until Zafar told him what it was.   
  


"What are you doing here?" Alex wasn't happy to find Tom the policeman outside the fire station. 

"I need to talk to you Alex." 

"Really? Well I don't want to talk to you!" she retorted. 

"Please," he had to grab her arm to stop her from walking away. 

"What's going on?" Adam joined them. 

Alex pulled her arm out of Tom's grip. "Nothing." 

"Have you even told Katie about me?" Tom was demanding. 

"What should I tell her? That her father cared more about his job than her?!" 

"You know that's not true." 

"He was worried about what might happen to him if his bosses found out that he'd been sleeping with a fourteen year old girl!" Alex explained for Adam's benefit. 

"We can't talk about this here," Tom was trying to remain calm. "Not unless you want everyone to know your business!" 

Alex shrugged. "Bit late now! Anyone who can add up will start to wonder what a 25 year old woman is doing with a ten year old daughter!" 

"I think you should leave," Adam spoke to Tom. "Before I have to get our Guv'nor!" 

"Oh yeah, she'd love that! You love being the centre of attention don't you Alex?!" Tom was beginning to loose his cool. 

She didn't answer, but turned on her heel and flounced back into the station. Tom was seething. 

"I never knew she was fourteen! From the way she behaved, anyone would have thought she was… well, I didn't know, ok!" 

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Adam told him. 

Tom sighed, took one last look at the station then returned to his police car. Adam went over to the Watch Room where Alex was watching Tom leave. 

"Do you wanna tell me what that was all about?" Adam questioned. 

"Like you couldn't guess." 

"I never knew you had a kid." 

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me Adam," she left him standing alone by the Watch Room. 

He knew she was right, he knew nothing about her life before their chance encounter at a fire on Shadbrook's ground some months back. He decided he needed to do something to change that.   


Jamie McAllister was still hanging round Craig. Like a bad smell, Zafar considered. He had decided against telling Mick about McAllister's thoughtless choice of words. He felt he didn't want to kick up such a fuss so early in his career. What would everyone else think of him? Oh look there goes the lad who can't stand having things said about him! Quick, hide the Black Magic. 

He decided he should perhaps learn to live with the likes of Jamie McAllister. After all, there was no knowing if he really was a racist or if it was just his sadistic sense of humour… 

"You not got your head in a book?!" Charlie had interrupted Zafar's thoughts as he entered the mess, where Zafar was sat alone at the table. "Not like you!" 

"Is that how you see me?" Zafar wondered. "As a nerd?!" 

"Nah, shows you just wanna get a good start in your career… That's all I'm gonna say," Charlie grinned. "I'm gonna start sounding like Poison in a minute!" 

Zafar smiled. "But what would you do if someone… well, if they weren't being very nice to you?" 

"Weren't being… Oh you mean if they was bein' a bastard?! I dunno, knock 'em out?!" Charlie suggested, very unhelpfully. "Why, who's bein' a bastard?" 

Zafar shrugged, not wanting to explain. "No one you know." 

"Hey, if someone's giving you grief…" 

"They're not, I was just wondering!" 

Charlie shrugged and let the subject rest as Pearce entered the mess. 

"What are you two doing here?" he demanded. "The Guv'nor wants a drill in the yard," Pearce informed them with some air of authority. "Now," he added. 

Charlie and Zafar got up from the table and followed Pearce down to the appliance bay, where Adam was discussing something with Alex and McAllister was, or at least pretending to, advise Craig on some aspect of the job. 

"Right," Pearce started as if he was about to make an important announcement. "Adam, Charlie, reverse the appliances into the yard. Then I want the one three five pitching to the second floor of the tower," he explained. "Come on, chop chop," he hurried them along. 

Blue Watch slowly geared into action as Mick descended the stairs into the appliance bay. He couldn't keep the grin off his face. It had been a while since he had something to smile about. Pearce clocked this immediately. 

"Have you had some news, Sir?" 

Mick's grin grew even wider. "It's only my promotion to station officer, Geoff. From now on, I'll be running Blue Watch, officially!" 

Pearce tried a fake smile to cover up his own jealously. "Well done, Sir. I've got the lads preparing for that drill you wanted." 

"Oh, yes, of course," Mick realised he had completely forgotten about the routine drill that Blue Watch were currently setting up in the yard. 

"I don't suppose you know who got the post at Shadbrook?" Pearce quizzed as he and Mick joined the Watch in the yard. 

"No, but I'm sure we'll find out. You know what the Brigade's like for gossip!" Mick replied, grinning once again. 

"I just think you should give him a chance, that's all," Adam was telling Alex as they each carried a corner of the front end of the long 1-3-5 ladder from the appliance round towards the foot of the tower. 

"Why? I don't love him." 

"He has a right." 

"Who's side are you on?" Alex demanded. 

"No-one's, I'm just saying you should at least talk to him, that's talk not shout! Don't you think Katie has a right to know who her father is?" 

Alex didn't answer, she knew he was right, but didn't want to admit it. 

The ladder was pitched against the second floor of the tower. McAllister set his foot on the bottom rung to check the stability. He then noticed Zafar stood behind him, removed his foot and stepped backwards, purposely into Zafar's path. 

"Watch where you're going!" Zafar almost fell over McAllister's outstretched foot. 

McAllister just grinned. "Sorry, I didn't see you there, and it's not even dark yet!" 

Zafar felt the anger boil up inside him. "You wanna say that again?!" 

McAllister turned to confront Zafar, he spoke in barely a whisper so that only Zafar could hear. "Eat my shit, Abdul." 

Before he could stop himself, Zafar had taken a swing at McAllister, who fell to the floor, spitting blood from his mouth. This made everyone else turn round to stare, including Mick and Pearce. Zafar immediately regretted his actions.   


_(uh-oh!)_

_London's Burning: Behind The Curtain © Kaz 26/01/03_


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